10 Essential SEO Tips for Your Squarespace Website
Howdy! If you’re a small business owner with an online presence, there’s no doubt you’ve heard the term SEO flying around. But what is SEO and why should you care?
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the art of optimising your website and it’s content so that it appears higher in search engine results. You’ve got an amazing website that captures your business vibe perfectly, SEO is about ensuring as many relevant people find it as possible! There are billions of websites online, so visibility is key. SEO is all about building your online visibility so that you can be easily discovered by as many potential dream clients as possible.
While working on your visibility is important, it’s crucial to remember that SEO isn’t an overnight fix—it’s a long game. You’ll need patience and persistence, but the results are well worth it.
Here are my 10 essential SEO tips to ensure your business Squarespace website hits that all-important front page.
1. do your Keyword Research
Keywords are an SEO lifeline for any small service based business. Make a list of relevant keywords for your content, titles, and page descriptions - try and use language that your customers would use. Avoid jargon or technical terms, it unlikely anyone will be using them to search!
Once you have some basic keywords and phrases, use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to find high-search, low-competition keywords. Sprinkle these keywords naturally into your content – they should read organically and make sense in the context of your content. Keyword stuffing will get you nowhere! The goal is to rank highly on Google without compromising the value and readability of your website content. Your visitors should find your site engaging and relevant, not a keyword-stuffed mess. Always keep your audience in mind and make your content shine.
2. Add seo Titles and Descriptions for Your Website & Individual Pages
Your site’s titles and descriptions are the snippets that your users see in Google search results. By manually adding these rather than relying on Squarespace to automatically generate them, you can include your keywords and give Google (and your audience) a clear picture of who you are, what you do, and where you do it.
Go to Settings -> Marketing -> SEO Appearance on your Squarespace site. Format your title like this: Business Name | Service, Location. Keep descriptions short and sweet (under 400 characters), mention specific services, and end with a call to action like “Get in touch today.” Repeat this process for each page to keep things tidy and optimised.
3. Add an optimised Blog to Your squarespace Website
Blogs can be an absolute goldmine for SEO. They allow you to create valuable, informative content that attracts and engages your audience and builds those keywords in an organic, valuable way. Start with common questions your target audience has and provide detailed answers - you can use tools like AnswerThePublic and Google Keyword Planner to find examples of these questions to answer for your audience.
Use images, quotes, and links to enhance your posts and make them more engaging. This not only adds new keywords to your site but also provides fresh content for your readers - Google loves fresh content. Repurpose blog posts for newsletters and social media to maximise your content’s reach and impact. A well-maintained blog keeps your site dynamic and boosts your SEO.
4. Hide unnecessary Pages from Search Results
Keep Google focused on your main website content by hiding admin and legal pages from search results. You want your services, about, and contact pages to take centre stage, not your 404 error page or privacy policy. To do this, click the cog icon next to the page name in your page list, then go to the SEO tab and toggle on ‘Hide Page from Search Results.’ This helps prioritise your relevant content, making it easier for visitors to find what they’re looking for and boosting your site’s overall SEO.
5. Link up your Social Media Profiles to your squarespace website
Social media isn’t just for selfies and food pics – it’s a powerful tool for boosting your visibility via your website’s SEO. Promote content like blogs, special offers and lead magnets on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram to drive more traffic to your website. Social signals (likes, shares, comments) from these platforms also play a role in search engine rankings. Link up your relevant social media profiles to yur Squarespace website, engage with your audience, encourage interactions, and watch your site’s visibility soar.
6. Create a Google My Business Page
If you want your business to pop up in local searches, you need to optimise your site for local SEO. This means including your location in title tags, meta descriptions, and content. Think “Hair stylist in Exeter, Devon” as an example. This helps search engines understand where you are and shows your business to users looking for local services. Almost a third of mobile searches are location-based, so it’s super important we don’t skip this step! Create a Google My Business listing to boost your online presence in local search results. It’s a game changer for your online visibility. Create your Google My Business profile here.
7. Link Google Analytics & Search Console to Your Squarespace Website
Let’s get analytical! It’s not as boring as it sounds, promise. Whether you plan to dive deep into the data of your Squarespace website or not, setting up Google Analytics is crucial. It shows Google that you take an interest in where your visitors come from and how they interact with your site - and that you’re keen to keep working on and improving your Squarespace webiste.
Create a Google Analytics account, grab your tracking ID, and head to Settings -> Developer Tools -> External API on your Squarespace backend. Don’t stop there! Link Google Search Console to get insights into the search terms bringing people to your site and see where you rank on Google. The more you use these tools, the more love your site gets from Google. Set up Google Search Console here.
8. speed up your page load times
The page speed of your Squarespace website matters. If your site takes forever to load, visitors will bounce, and Google will notice that your site isn’t performing well and offering your audience a good experience. To keep things snappy, compress images to under 500KB and embed videos from YouTube or Vimeo instead of loading them directly on your site. Add alt tags to images to help search engines crawl your site and aid visually impaired users. Faster load times mean happier visitors and better rankings. Optimise your site for speed, and Google will reward you with higher page rankings.
9. prioritise Mobile Optimisation
With over 60% of web traffic coming from mobile devices, a mobile-friendly Squarespace website is a must if you want to capture maximum engagement. Google prioritises mobile-optimised sites in its rankings, so make sure yours looks great on all devices to get that front page spot. Use Squarespace’s super simple Fluid Engine to drag, drop, and rearrange blocks for mobile without affecting the desktop view. Test your site’s mobile styling by clicking the mobile icon in edit mode. A seamless mobile experience keeps visitors happy and improves your search rankings.
10. Keep Your squarespace Website Up to date
Regular updates to your Squarespace website are essential to keep your pages relevant and engaging. Update your services as regularly as you need to, add new events or products, create fresh blog posts, and refresh your testimonials. This not only provides the latest information to your visitors but also signals to Google that your site is active and maintained.
If you’re reading this and feeling the panic, remember: SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Make small, frequent website updates a habit, and over time, you’ll see improvements in your search rankings and traffic.
Remember, SEO is about playing the long game. Tackle one little task at a time and be patient. It can take as long as 6 months to see significant changes to your Google ranking, so keep at it and your hard work will pay off.
